If you live in Wisconsin it does... and when LeBron retires.... the interest in the overall game dips much like it did when MJ did. The football comparison is dead on... NFL is by far the most popular sport in the country and its all about the team for the most part. Its about the Logo/team with the NFL, while its the name on the back of the shirt with NBA. how many fans were Cav's fans then Heat fans and now are Cav's fans again... I prefer to do the rollercoaster with my team, the winning is much more satisfying when they overcome and win it all.

Sure, if your aim is some kind of geographical parity in fan interest then I agree. If the aim is to maximize the overall fan interest then promoting superstars and superteams makes more sense to me. The Bucks won't increase the tv ratings in Europe and Asia or bring in the fairweather fans.

If the NBA actually promoted all of its team's instead of Lebron, Lebron, Kobe, Lebron, Melo, Lebron...they'd HAVE fan interest. Instead, now, they have to use gimmicks. If I live in Milwaukee or Phoenix, I'm not watching to see Lebron. If you utilize national marketing campaigns to get other regions and cities more interested (read: in love with their own teams). Fans start caring about people other than the top 2 to 3 guys you keep shoving down their throats and they then have renewed interest and a reason to watch games in Nov. and Dec.

The NBA doesn't even start marketing ITS OWN league until Christmas. Unlike the common theme that the games don't matter, they CAN and DO matter, especially if the NBA (of all groups) starts treating them that way.

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There is plenty of promotional content out there for every team, but the reality is that the NBA landscape is driven by storylines and stars. Just like you don't remember the junkie walking in the background in the 4th episode of the The Wire, you don't remember the "Lets go bucks" mantra's that go dangled around. No one cares about them.

I feel like you are forgetting that last season we had a huge amount of fanfare generated over the Phoenix Suns (a team slated to win less than 20 games), Toronto, Washington. How about grit and grind? Memphis was a team with no real superstars, unless you are a huge fan Rudy "McBricks" Gay.

The NBA itself covers content for most teams. But of course the Philadelphia 76ers losing 6 games in a row is going to get overshadowed by Curry shooting lights out for 50 points in the MSG.

That's why the midcore and the hardcore fans are less relevant in marketing strategies, they'll keep watching their teams no matter if ESPN spend the night on Brandon Jennings 6 for 10 or not.

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I disagree. the mid-core and hardcore fans are the ones that buy the most team gear. Casual fans might pick up a jersey cause it matches their outfit. They aren't the driving force for the NBA's merch sales. It's ACTUAL fans. You start catering to those people and they buy stuff. Tickets, jerseys, shooting shirts, Brandon Jennings 6 for 10 commemorative bobble heads, etc.

There is plenty of promotional content out there for every team, but the reality is that the NBA landscape is driven by storylines and stars. Just like you don't remember the junkie walking in the background in the 4th episode of the The Wire, you don't remember the "Lets go bucks" mantra's that go dangled around. No one cares about them.

I feel like you are forgetting that last season we had a huge amount of fanfare generated over the Phoenix Suns (a team slated to win less than 20 games), Toronto, Washington. How about grit and grind? Memphis was a team with no real superstars, unless you are a huge fan Rudy "McBricks" Gay.

The NBA itself covers content for most teams. But of course the Philadelphia 76ers losing 6 games in a row is going to get overshadowed by Curry shooting lights out for 50 points in the MSG.

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If this was all true and the driving factor for fan interest, we wouldn't be seeing articles about the NBA trying to improve/drive/increase fan interest with BS mid-season tournaments and the like. The league spends most of it's national ad time telling you about maybe 3 dudes. Duncan has 5 titles....never mentioned. Players retire. Teams do not. The other posters who mentioned the NFL have it right. The NFL has insane fan interest because it caters to ALL it's fans not just the bandwagoners and the casual fan who only knows one guy cause they keep hearing his name and have to be reminded what team he's on.

I read somewhere in some Forbes (!) or BI article that the merchandise is about 5% of NBA team revenue and I bet Kobe and LeBron is a decent part of that. If that number is remembered correctly I don't think the marketing strategy should focus on selling a few more bobbleheads to the midcore fans.

Isn't the NFL marketing all about Manning, Brady and Tebow? The English Premier League* and the Spanish La Liga* also focus on the fairweather fans and they are doing very well from a fan interest perspective.

I read somewhere in some Forbes (!) or BI article that the merchandise is about 5% of NBA team revenue. If that number is remembered correctly I don't think the marketing strategy should focus on selling a few more bobbleheads to the midcore fans.
Isn't the NFL marketing all about Manning, Brady and Tebow? The English Premier League* and the Spanish La Liga* also focus on the fairweather fans and they are doing very well from a fan interest perspective.
*For you Americans, it's two popular European soccer leagues

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If Peyton Manning retired tomorrow, the Denver Broncos would STILL sell out every single game irregardless of what their W/L record ended up being.
The NFL certainly does market individual players but they also put a significant amount of focus on rivalries and team matchups.
The NBA has moved away from this.
Despite it being Magic vs Larry, the NBA always placed the emphasis on Lakers vs Celtics.
I don't think that the NBA should stop trying to make superstars into household names. I just think they should focus at least SOME marketing energy on regional and historical rivalries. This will help build some TEAM loyalty among their fan base and create a more stable league. To me, it's wrong that the Miami Heat probably lost about 25 percent of their fan base the minute that LBJ went back to Cleveland.

I wouldn't mind if they spend every penny promoting small market teams, regional and historical rivalries or Tim Duncan since I don't really care about what happens to the fan interest in Milwaukee, Europe or to a team when the face of the league leaves as long as it doesn't catch on here in Sweden so I have to start avoiding spoilers in the Swedish media too. I'm just debating that promoting the stars is a more effective marketing strategy for increased fan interest.

Or forget the last part about Duncan, I want my Decisions, Charles Barkley scandals and subtweeters.

Much like AAA video games, the NBA has watered down its product for the widest appeal. Its own marketing is covered by a thick morass of product-centric campaigns designed to put NBA players next to logos. I always thought it was pathetic that the Warriors would advertise games that had Wade and the Heat coming to town...until Detroit started marketing its team the same way.
but they use the same consumer model as the league as a whole.
What if the Pistons marketing team took interest in the major fan sites and got them a little bit of perks? Q&A's with some staff/players. Breaking info.
I agree that you need to cater to you hardcore fan base...these are the guys that create the infrastructure for casual fans to become hardcore fans...in the form of highlight videos, forums, blogs, etc. Even now the marketing team sees us (collectively) as demographic targets to sell tickets.

We've had people working for the Pistons org sign up here before, they start spamming for ticket sales right away. No respect for anything but the short term bottom line. This is an issue with humanity at large. We're just not wired for patience or prudence.

Brandon Jennings has been my personal litmus test regarding my devotion to the Detroit Pistons.
My personal feelings toward Jennings' game are "luke warm" to say the least. He makes the Colorado DMV seem efficient.
...but because he wears Piston gear, I root like hell for the guy.

I can't wait until the day that I no longer feel obligated to root for him.

Rodney Stuckey has been my personal litmus test regarding my devotion to the Detroit Pistons.
My personal feelings toward Stuckey's game were "icy" to say the least. He makes the Billings PS2 seem efficient.
...but because he wore Piston gear, I rooted like hell for the team.

Good marketing is the formation of a relationship. The development of a conversation. It's not fast or vulgar, like a small plant it takes time to grow.

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I remember that.
One book I have talks about customers vs. consumers and how big business are built upon economies of scale where people need to consume ever increasing volume of product. Smaller businesses need to build deep relationships with customers who keep coming back. The NBA is big business. Each franchise has is a mid-sized business. You need repeat customers. You need to build relationships.
Cultivating internet fandom should be a definite cornerstone of any franchise level marketing strategy. Where else do you have a high concentration of loyal fans?